Nearly a decade ago, Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger started an artisan chocolate company that set out to change the American public's standard for the confection and challenge European masters.

Scharffenberger Chocolates opened in California in 1997. Scharffenberger, who once owned a wine company under the same name, sold his wine business and became partners with Steinberg.

The company emphasizes the use of high-quality beans from Madagascar, Venezuela, Ghana and Trinidad, among other places.

What once was a small business operating out of a garage now has its own plant in Berkeley, Calif.